Council to vote on adventure tourism districts

Thursday

Apr 3, 2014 at 5:59 PM

City Manager Mark Watson would like to take advantage of a Tennessee law to promote tourism and economic growth in rural areas and is planning to ask the City Council to vote to have areas of Oak Ridge designated as adventure tourism districts.

Russel Langley/The Oak Ridger

City Manager Mark Watson would like to take advantage of a Tennessee law to promote tourism and economic growth in rural areas and is planning to ask the City Council to vote to have areas of Oak Ridge designated as adventure tourism districts.During a brief Council work session recently, Watson told City Council that designating areas of the city as adventure tourism districts could help attract businesses and jobs to the city. The law is the Tennessee Adventure and Tourism Rural Development Act and it was passed in 2011, Watson said. Of the list of activities listed that can count as adventure sports are mountain biking and rowing.Watson said that the designation must apply to a district within the city that encompasses the sports being considered as adventure sports. The area he has proposed for Oak Ridge goes east on the Oak Ridge Turnpike from downtown, to Melton Lake Drive and Hawridge Park, then back out to Edgemoor Road. Businesses related to adventure tourism that locate within that zone would then be eligible for tax breaks from the state if they meet certain criteria.“The tax credits are state funds and not city funds,” Watson said.Watson explained the businesses that can be included in the adventure tourism designation. They could include hotels, restaurants, retail outlets, and manufacturing operations. The act further specifies that to be eligible the business must make an investment of $500,000 and employee 25 people. If all of the criteria are met, the business would then be eligible for a $3,500 tax break per employee.Council member Anne Garcia Garland said that she was excited by the prospect but wanted to explore ways to encourage the legislature to relax some of the restrictions. At a minimum, she said, she would like to see a lower requirement for the number of employees for retail establishments since the majority of retailers wouldn’t employ that many people.Council member Chuck Hope asked if the city’s designation as part of the Knoxville transportation area would harm the city’s eligibility from the rural standpoint. Watson said that it would not.“We have been trying to climb out of the rural zone for years and I don’t want this to push us back to the ‘little kids table,’” the Council member said.Council member Trina Baughn asked if there were specific companies eyeing Oak Ridge and why the hiking trails on the west end of town were not included. Watson said he has been talking with representatives of a hotel that could potentially make a $10 million investment in the city. He would not give out more specific information.Ray Evans, a city economic consultant, said that in order to receive the adventure tourism designation an area must have an adventure tourism aspect.“Walking and hiking (such as on the west end) are not considered adventure tourism,” Evans said.Watson told Council members there would be a resolution prepared for them to vote upon at their next regular meeting on April 14. The deadline to apply for the designation for this year is April 15.Nearby, the town of Lake City has already applied for the adventure tourism designation.Russel Langley can be reached at (865) 220-5514.